Shout-out to Sears. A little less than two years after buying a $1,700 Kenmore fridge from Sears, it recently broke down and would have cost about $1,000 to fix, so we've been without a fridge for the last two weeks as we wait for the new one we bought to be delivered. Two months before that, a major piece to our water heater broke, leaving us without water for a few days. So, I recently asked my wife which was worse: not having working water or not having a working fridge? We decided not having working water was worse. But, I can't complain too much. We're pampered Americans anyway and should be thankful for what we do have on this Fourth of July eve. Happy Independence Day to you and yours. Now, let's get on to your questions with the weekly Murray Monday Mailbag. Here are this week's inquiries.

Nevada Football's season win total was set at 3.5. Given the massive roster changes and rough schedule, are you going Over or Under?

Preseason prognostications have not been kind to the Wolf Pack this season. In addition to some brutal predictions from the preseason magazines, the Las Vegas sports books set the Wolf Pack at a 3.5 over/under win total. The last time Nevada won less than 3.5 games was 2001 when it went 3-8 in the second year under Chris Tormey, so folks are predicting a historically bad season for the Wolf Pack, and it's easy to see why that's the outside opinion.

Nevada has a first-year coach by both definitions of the phrase. Jay Norvell isn't only taking over the Wolf Pack program, he's also running a team for the first time, which typically includes some bumps and bruises as you learn on the job. Additionally, Nevada's talent level is thin, its depth is questionable, its schedule is the most difficult since 2013 and its offensive and defensive schemes are vastly different than a season ago, which will introduce its own set of issues.

Let's break down the schedule.

Games in which Nevada will be a massive underdog: at Northwestern, at Washington State, at Boise State, at San Diego State.

Games in which Nevada will be a solid underdog: at Colorado State, vs. Toledo.

Games that are a toss up: at Fresno State, vs. Hawaii, vs. Air Force, vs. San Jose State, vs. UNLV.

Games in which Nevada will be a massive favorite: vs. Idaho State.

The best-case scenario here looks like a six-win season, which would be good enough for a bowl and good enough to qualify the season as a success. I'd be surprised if Nevada won more than one road game this season, which means it would have to go 5-1 at home to reach that six-win mark. This isn't a 2013-quality schedule. That schedule featured eventual national champions Florida State as well as UCLA, BYU and Boise State and Colorado State, both of which were ranked at the time. So, there's a little more room for optimism entering this season. But it's understandable why the over/under is set at 3.5 wins.

I'll take the over and give the Wolf Pack five victories in 2017 with wins over Idaho State, Fresno State, UNLV, San Jose State and Hawaii, but it is hard to foresee more than that. It's also worth noting the last time a new Nevada head coach took over and improved the program's win total in his first season was 1976 when Chris Ault took the Wolf Pack from three wins to eight in year one. It's rare to see a jump in win total in a debut season. But at least Nevada should play a more entertaining brand of football with the Air Raid offense and blitzing 3-3-5 defensive style.

And the most important aspect of this season for Nevada is setting the culture and expectations moving forward. Norvell's tenure won't be defined by his first season. It's all about getting better every season and building something for the long term.

With Nevada getting out paced by construction 📈 what chance is there for future projects? Will corporate 💰be required in future?

Oh, it's an issue. There just aren't enough builders in Northern Nevada right now, which is leading to increased real-estate prices and a dearth of affordable housing. As it relates to the Wolf Pack, the rise in construction costs has delayed the Ramon Sessions Basketball Performance Center two months and pushed back "Champions Plaza" until after the 2017 season. This also was an issue when Hixson Park, the Wolf Pack's softball facility, was built in 2007. A good chunk of that project wasn't finished because of rising constructions costs.

The good news is Nevada got its Mackay Stadium renovation done last season before this spike took place. The bad news is there are other projects in the works, namely a proposed $3 million renovation of Peccole Park the Wolf Pack is raising funds for, that could suffer as a result of these increases. That's the next big project Nevada would like to get done. It's hard to raise $3 million for any project, but if construction costs push that total up to $4 million or $5 million it might be close to impossible. And we haven't even talked about the indoor football practice facility, which is around a $20 million project.

While the Wolf Pack's facility growth isn't as big a deal as having affordable housing in Northern Nevada, it is something to monitor. Despite recent upgrades, Nevada is behind the curve in facilities in the Mountain West and this is another obstacle to hurdle as it tries to catch up to the MW standard.

Is Nevada MBB still playing in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic? It seems to be the only tourney still not to have a field.

Yes, the Wolf Pack will play in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic in December and I've been told the team's two opponents are Southern Illinois and San Francisco. The Salukis went 17-16 last season. The Dons were 20-13. Both are solid opponents but shouldn't be huge RPI boosters (but you never know until the season plays out). The Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic is the only regular-season tournament the Wolf Pack will play in during the 2017-18 season.

Nevada has only two games left to schedule before releasing its slate, but we know most of the games at this point. Home: Illinois State, Idaho, UC Davis. Road: Pacific, Texas Tech, Hawaii, UC Irvine, Santa Clara. Neutral: TCU, Southern Illinois, San Francisco.

I know there is some frustration from fans over the schedule, but it takes a run of good seasons like Nevada had last year to become a big enough brand to get into the big-time tournaments and schedule Top 25 programs in the non-conference season. If the Wolf Pack can put together three or four more seasons like the one it had last year, then the program should get regular showdowns with high-level teams. Until then, it's an uphill battle.

And I'd like to get my prediction in there first: Jordan Caroline will post a 30-20 game against his old team, Southern Illinois, in December.

Any update or change in whether SMC and Nevada will play this Fall? Or, update on what it will take on Musses's part?

Last I heard, the Wolf Pack had a standing offer to play at Saint Mary's again this season. Last I heard, the Wolf Pack had not taken up that offer. Nevada got paid $83,000 to play in Moraga last year in the season opener and coach Eric Musselman said as soon as the game ended he shouldn't have scheduled the game. So, yeah, Nevada could be reluctant to go back, especially since the odds of Saint Mary's ever returning a game to Reno are slim to none.

Saint Mary's has a nice deal going where it never plays non-conference road games (it's averaged about one per year over the last five seasons), and Nevada needs home games and not road games (it has five road games to three home games right now), so I don't see it happening. It would be nice to have an annual series between the schools, but I get why Nevada doesn't want to go on the road every year to play the game and I get why Saint Mary's doesn't want to travel if it can afford to load up on non-conference home games. David Carter couldn't ever get his alma mater to play in Reno, so Musselman doesn't have much of a chance.

how do you feel about the proposed executive course going in at d'andrea? better than nothing at this point?

Before the course shut down, I lived on D'Andrea next to the island par-3 green, which was about 150 yards from my backyard, which made it easy to practice my short-iron game. Then the course shut down after residents declined to raise HOA fees to fund the course, which lost money in seven of the eight years prior to closing in 2012. After the course went under and the lake beyond my backyard turned into a big empty hole, my family moved out to RedHawk two years ago and bought a new fridge that no longer works (serenity now).

​We waited it out for a couple of years before moving, and there were always rumors about turning the course into various things. My favorite rumor was a vineyard. So, after years of hearing rumors, I'll believe it when I see it. But this does seem to be the most proactive approach to turning the old course into something. The RGJ's Jason Hidalgo reported in May a group was trying to build the following:

a championship course with nine holes

a practice facility with three to four holes

an event center with a restaurant and bar

a single-family home development named Monticello

Lennar is still building a lot of houses out there, so there is activity, but when the clubhouse burned down last year, that felt like a death knell for the course ever returning, which is a shame because it was one of the best and most fun courses in Northern Nevada. But it's the way things are going with courses nationally and locally, with D’Andrea, Northgate, Crystal Peak and Brookside all closing since the great boom of the mid-2000s and Rosewood and Wildcreek facing uncertain futures.

What are your thoughts on Nevada Football's new uniforms and facemask change?

One of my many failings as a human being is not caring one iota about the jerseys college teams wear, but I know fans are passionate about that stuff so I still cover it. I know Mr. Fremont has been vocal on Twitter about the lack of blue pants since that is a traditional Wolf Pack color. I get that. I personally don't get riled up over uniforms, however.

As for part two of that question, the Wolf Pack's deal with Nike runs through the 2017-18 season, so Nevada could be a free agent soon. Nine of the 12 MW schools are Nike programs (Hawaii and Colorado State are Under Armour and San Jose State is adidas). Per FootballScoop.com, Nike has 73 FBS teams; adidas has 32; Under Armour has 23; and Russell Athletic two.

Nevada will almost certainly take the best monetary option, which will likely be Nike again. I don't see Under Armour or adidas making some big play for a mid-tier MW school. Plus, Nike and Nevada have had a good relationship. The two worked together last offseason to help the basketball program get a NCAA-high seven jersey sets, with Musselman and the Wolf Pack brass visits Nike headquarters. Now, if they could only get together to create these football uniforms.

UNLV's new logo is not good. In fact, it is bad. It is very, very bad. I liked Hey Reb. It was a little cartoonish, but you immediately thought of UNLV when you saw it. When you see the new logo, the first thought is, "What is this?" But that's typically the reaction when change things. I'm sure it will grow on people over time.

What's your guess on the number of basketball season ticket holders for 2017-18?

Last year, Nevada basketball had 5,049 season-ticket holders, about 4,000 of which were paid season-ticket holders (the others were trade-outs). That's actually pretty low. The program's high-water mark for paid season-ticket holders was around 6,500 during the Mark Fox years. Although season-ticket prices are rising, Nevada should still see good growth. I'll guess 6,200 total season-ticket holders next season, including 5,200 of which are paid. It is much harder to lose a season-ticket fan base than grow one. That takes time to develop and growth of more than 1,000 in one offseason would be huge for Nevada.

This also shows how important football is. Despite its relative lack of success since 2010, Wolf Pack football's season-ticket base was still 9,751 in 2016, which was down from 11,352 the year prior but still far higher than the basketball base. That's the money maker.

What's the best place to eat when visiting each other MWC town (incl Hawaii)? Also what do you order?

My five favorite places to eat on the road in the MW, in no particular order: In Hawaii, LuLu's on Waikiki Beach (I get the French toast); in Logan, Utah, the Beehive Grill (I get a French dip and root beer); in Fresno, the Dog House Grill (I get the tri-tip tacos); in Las Vegas, Metro Pizza (I get The Honolulu); and in San Jose, La Victoria Taqueria (no matter what you get just put orange sauce on it).

I don't think anybody will enter and stick in the draft, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Jordan Caroline and/or Caleb Martin test the draft waters just to get feedback. There's not a lot of downside in doing that. Both will be juniors next season and both should be All-MW players. Caroline is going to be a tweener as he tries to get to the NBA unless he develops his perimeter game to the point he can play small forward, which will be tough, so he's likely a four-year college player. I can't see anybody other than those two having enough buzz to even test the waters.

Somebody to potentially watch down the road: point guard Lindsey Drew. Nobody thought Ramon Sessions would have the best NBA career of all of the players who came through Nevada in the 2000s, but he's done just that. Could Drew do the same thing? He has good size, good vision, NBA bloodlines and a developing 3-point shot. His dad is a long-time NBA coach, which helps. He'll obviously need to continuing growing as a player, but keep an eye on him long term.

@MurrayRGJ you think over/under 4,000 passing season for david cornwell this yr and if so next year would he be considered an all American

I'll take the under on that and there's no way he'll be an All-American. Colin Kaepernick, who finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2010, wasn't even an All-American that season. The quarterback position is nearly impossible to crack from the Group of 5 level. Cornwell is going to throw the ball a ton, but the offensive line is questionable and you're asking for 333 yards per game. Only one player in Nevada history has thrown for more than 3,650 yards in a season. That was Chris Vargas in 1993 with 4,265 yards. The safe bet here is under, but I could see Cornwell going over 4,000 yards in 2018.

1. Will Butler get drafted 2. Will Nevada football score more total points in 17. How many NV football sale outs in 17?

Question one: Depends on his 40-yard dash time. Butler has almost all of the qualities you want in an NFL back but he's going to have to run something in the 4.4s to get drafted most likely. I'd certainly take a chance on him in the late rounds. If he was running behind Nevada's 2012 offensive line, he would lead the NCAA in rushing. Question two: Yes, Nevada will score more points in 2017 than 2016. It averaged only 25.4 points per game last season, which ranked 91st in the nation. Lots of room for improvement. Question three: One. The UNLV game should sell out, in part because Mackay Stadium's capacity is smaller now than it was in 2015, the last time the Rebels played in Reno.

You're a HS recruit. Do you choose Nevada FB or MBB (where you'd likely start immediately) or a traditional power (bench early/start later)?

I'd go to the place with the best education because I know how rare it is that college athletes actually make it to the pros. But that's me at 34 years old. Me at 18 years old is going to the big-time school and trying to earn a job. You can always transfer down a little if things don't work out.

Hey, a question from our old friend, former RGJ preps/Aces writer Chris Gabel. Here's your answer: too late for the Diamondbacks to challenge the Dodgers for the NL West title. And too late for Mr. Gabel's fantasy baseball team, Don't Sell Me Short, to make a run at the championship in our keeper league.

Former RGJ writers Steve Sneddon and Joe Santoro are both above-average-sized men. Hinxman and I are both (generously listed) average-sized men. So, I'll take Sneddon and Santoro in a Battle Royal-style affair. You put me on a ping-pong table, however, and I'll take on all three.